Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

These are some of the many books I read in school and what I thought of them. There are a few mild spoilers in this post, but I can only assume that all of you have either already read these old titles or don’t mind a few vague hints about their endings.

1.The Giver (The Giver, #1)by Lois Lowry

My Thoughts on It: Certain details about this society make no sense if you try to work out the logistics of them over multiple generations, but I found the rest of it thought provoking and loved it overall.

2. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

My Thoughts on It: This story was surprisingly relatable, especially since a few of my friends acted a lot like Ponyboy.

3.1984 by George Orwell

My Thoughts on It: What a frightening warning about totalitarianism. This was a great read.

4.The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

My Thoughts on It: I loved Anne and was heartbroken by the postscript that let readers know she died in a concentration camp. We’d read a fictional book in which a girl about her age survived it shortly before this one, so I assumed this nonfiction account would have a triumphant ending as well.

5. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

My Thoughts on It: Why didn’t they listen to the sensible adults around them? I liked this story but was so annoyed with Romeo and Juliet for rushing everything.

6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

My Thoughts on It: While I liked the story, I hated the ending. It was so dark and dreary.

7.Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

My Thoughts on It: I loved the first 90% of it, but the last 10% or so is the origin story for why I’m so hesitant to read books about beloved pets anymore unless I know for a fact that those pets are going to live happily ever after.

8.A Separate Peace by John Knowles

My Thoughts on It: The writing was beautiful, but I thought many of the characters needed to learn some basic manners and social skills as they clearly hadn’t been taught how to behave at home.  They were so unkind to each other! I faced enough bullying growing up that it was not something I usually wanted to read about in fiction, especially when the adults in the story often didn’t take it seriously.

9. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

My Thoughts on It: Living in a giant peach sounded terribly sticky and uncomfortable, but I loved the playfulness of this story.

10. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

My Thoughts on It: This is still one of my all-time favourite stories. I love the life lessons in it about never judging anyone based on physical appearance and how even small acts of kindness you don’t think anyone has noticed can still be repaid in unexpected ways.

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Here are ten books I avoided reading in large part because of how hyped up they were. Generally, I tend not to be a big fan of stories that are marketed as the next hot read, although of course there are always exceptions to that rule.

As I haven’t read them, it’s hard to speculate whether or not I would have liked them after all. I suspect that part of the prompt is easier to answers for participants who chose to talk about hyped books they did end up reading!

1. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

2.When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

4. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

5. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

6. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

7. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

8. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

9.Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

10. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

How often does your taste in books match up with what everyone is talking about on Booktok or other similar bookish places online?